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Prince Alwaleed's new Arabic news channel starts recruitment drive

Staff being hired by Al Arab News Channel ahead of launch later this year

Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal

By Staff writer

Mon 04 Aug 2014 05:33 PM

The new independent Arabic news station owned by Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal has started recruitment ahead of a planned launch later this year, it was reported.

The Al Arab News Channel will be based in Bahrain and is aiming to compete with existing channels such as Qatar’s Al Jazeera, the UAE’s Al Arabiya, Sky New Arabia and BBC Arabic.

While no official launch date has been revealed, the channel has announced it has headhunted Al Jazeera’s Laila Al Shaikhli and BBC Arabic’s Tarek Alaas to join the new station as news anchors, the Gulf Daily News reported.

“One of our goals for the channel is to give the outstanding talent of the region a platform to show off their skills and create a lasting legacy in the region; a channel that is not only changing the way news is made but helping build a new generation of broadcasting talent,” Al Arab TV editor-in-chief Jamal Khashoggi was quoted as saying.

The station is aiming to hire up to 300 staff and new recuits are being trained by Academie France International and Bloomberg.